Three bodies, a single Entity

Kalafina 5th album「far on the water」Review

Well, its been a long time since by last post on this blog due to busy school schedule hehe. But now that I managed to listen to Kalafina’s 5th album ‘far on the water’, here’s my review:

01. into the water

So this is the ‘overture’ of this album just like what their albums usually have. It has a feeling that best describes “Welcome to the world of Kalafina.” Great vocals from them as usual but not as enchanting as ‘al fine’ from Consolation album. Well, it’s a great intro, imo.

monochrome

When I first heard this song, It was a little bit weird and I was amazed on how the electric guitar and accordion played together. I love accordion so much that’s why I immediately loved this track! That Hikaru verses, plus a solo Keiko line before Wakana’s chorus was pretty amazing just like a colorful song which describes best for the song. That instrumental was sooo great! Overall, this is one of my fave track from this album.

Gogatsu no Mahou

Oh, this is like a FictionJunction song to me (Distance, anyone?) Wakana’s high notes were impressive as usual and I like the strings as well as the Kajiuran part. I also love the lyrics of this song!

Im getting to like this song more after I watched its live ver on their NicoNico live. This song is good.

ring your bell

Nothing much to say about this song since we already used to listen to the singles before this album. But as a FSN fan, I like this song to be on #4 track cause its blends with its ‘calm and soothing’ feeling. I already said before that I love the bridge and Kajiuran part so much.

Usumurasaki

Oh my!, from a light song into a dark one, this track has an instrumental with an Arabian tune just like Te to Te to Me to Me and Sandpiper in which I both love! And that dark chorus reminds me of Tsuioku. Seems like Kajiura-sama uses old Kalafina vibes in making this new music. I don’t mind if there’s a little filter effects in their voices since they still sounds very powerful to me. This is probably one the best tracks on this album.

identify

Yes!! I remembered myself hoping an energetic Keiko solo in this album and here it is! Keiko and Hikaru totally rocks! That guitar solo sounds amazing, too. I love the bridge part the most. But it seems another old song feeling eh…I can hear a cutesy ‘love come down’ in here, haha! Can’t wait to see this song on live! Rock n’ roll!

Hokage

Phew!, as expected, a ballad comes after some energetic songs. Another Wakana lead huh. It means flicker of light and has a warmth feeling in it. It sounds a little bit boring and this must be ‘Sapphire’ ver.2.0. But I quite like the strings!

One Light

Hmm..I like this song though it’s a little bit generic. I was a little bit disappointed that there’s a lack of Keiko here and is repetitive but Hikaru and Wakana did a very great job exchanging parts on their chorus. This is still their strongest single on this album alongside with RYB.

Musunde Hiraku

Sounds like an Eden + Mirai ver.2.0, haha! It’s a light song and again, another Wakana lead song. Its not like I hate this song, its just it sounds too repetitive and plain to me. But oh, I love the bridge part. They harmonized so well better than Mirai.

heavenly blue

Another mediocre song in here. I love the verses only and the rest is plain. It has the same format as One Light and that Kajiuran/REMI parts was love. I like Aldnoah.Zero so there’s reason to hate this song, at least.

Sorairo no Isu

This is the best ballad/slow song on this album, imo. That harp in the inst~ intro sounds amazing that it has a 80’s/90’s feeling into it. I love these kind of songs! Wakana’s voice was also love. It’s a little bit repetitive and short but this is worth listening within our hearts.

believe

This song has a mixed feeling of heavenly blue and other Kalafina anisons so I guess this sounds weak to me. I love the verses, tho. That ‘shizukana yoru ni’ is always my fave part of this song as well as the Kaida’s Kajiurago. The instrumental seems ok for me, too (except for the last chorus for some reason XD).

far on the water

It’s a good conclusion song for this album. Keiko’s solo was impressive as always, and the rest is up to Hikaru and Wakana. Too much BGM, but I don’t mind since it fits the NHK show very well. And again, that Kajiuran part was love. And oh!, that ‘doko mademo, doko mademo’ part has been stuck into my head for days and it’s a good sign!

Overall this is great but its still weak because of those recent singles. Probably saved if they included Kimi no Gin no Niwa and Alleluia over ‘heavenly blue’ and ‘believe’. There’s too much Wakana as well. I recall myself considering ‘Red Moon’ as their best album since there is an equality and dark power covering the overall album. But after listening to some lives from this album, my hopes are up! Not to mention that they looked so beautiful on their mini booklet and FOTW PV<3 The album songs are great tho so I would like to rate this album 8/10. (still pretty high XD)